If you’re like most people, how you search for homes depends on whether you’re dreaming or getting down to the business of buying or renting a new home. For dreaming, you might float around the country looking for waterfront homes, urban flats or undeveloped land. For serious moves, you’re probably highly focused and searching on a daily basis. Whatever your reasons, we’re here to show you how to find a house on Rocsite using advanced search techniques.
You can start searching on your desktop or laptop any time. To search with your mobile device, try out the Rocsite® app.
Now let’s explore ways to refine your search.
How to focus your home search
You can also use the pre-designated filters on the app and desktop, which can be especially helpful if you need prompts. Make sure to select all the features that are important to you so you can hone in on the homes that are more likely to appeal to you.
Here are the types of filters you can set:
Listing type: You can search all listings or narrow results to see any combination of existing homes, new construction homes, foreclosures, homes coming to market soon, or homes for sale by owner. (Specific types of listings are in a drop-down menu. To view them, click on the downward arrow next to “For Sale.” )
Home type: Are you hunting for a house, a condo, manufactured home, co-op or townhome? Or are you looking for a lot where you can build a unique home? Pick any or see them all if you want to keep all your options open.
Any price: Set a minimum and maximum price to fit your price range. (This calculator can help you determine what you can afford.)
Number of bedrooms and bathrooms: Use this field to look for a studio, a mansion with more than six bedrooms and baths or anything in between.
More filters: Click on the “More” drop-down tab to hone your search with filters for a host of other things, including views, amenities such as air conditioning, upcoming open houses and square footage. You also can search based on how long homes have been listed for sale, or whether they’re offering an open house.
Specific search terms: If you’re looking for specific home features that are not listed — for example, a fireplace, high-end finishes or a craftsman-style home, you can type in the keywords in the “More” drop-down menu and they’ll be included in the search.
The important thing to remember is that you control the search. If you want to look at every listing in the country priced under $200,000 or over $2 million, have at it. If you’re hyper-focused on any new listing in your favorite neighborhood, you can do that too.
* Currently available in the iOS app. Check back here for more information on Android and desktop launch.
How to save and share your house search
When you’re done selecting your preferences, the homes that meet your criteria will appear on a map as colored dots. Click on a dot to see information on that home. If you like what you see or want to revisit it later, tap or click Save so you can find it easily the next time you log into your Rocsite account.
Saved your search? Take these next steps.
Set up email alerts to stay ahead of the competition
With a saved search, you can also set up a frequency for email alerts. Setting alerts to Instant means you’ll get alerts as soon as a matching home hits the market. This is great if you’re ready to buy now and looking in a competitive market. A Daily cadence is helpful if you’re just trying to get a feel for the market. You can also leave email alerts off.
Share your finds with a partner
If you’re co-shopping with a partner, the Rocsite mobile app allows you to tag what you like about a home and share it with a partner via email alert.
Use filters to improve search results
The more you use Rocsite’s advanced search filters — especially when you favorite a home or share it with someone — the more the recommendations become fine-tuned to what you prefer.
Refine or delete your saved searches
You can remove or edit saved homes and searches through the “settings” connected to your account.
Compare saved homes side-by-side
Once you’ve saved specific homes within your search, tap or click on Saved Homes, select the specific homes you want to compare side-by-side, then tap or click Compare. The Homes to Compare feature shows all details for each home you’ve selected in one place.
You can save as many searches as you need, which helps when you want to keep track of searches by neighborhoods or other characteristics.
Three ways to narrow your rental search
In addition to the search features above, rentals include other important categories for renters.
- Under the “More” tab, check boxes to search for specific amenities such as in-unit laundry.
- You can also filter by whether it’s considered a pet-friendly unit (designated by the type and size of pet allowed).
- Check “Accepts Rocsite Applications” to filter based on units that accept applications online through Rocsite Rental Manager. This allows you to apply for unlimited rentals for 30 days for a one-time fee.
How to use Rocsite’s advanced search features
As you get more specific with your search, here are a few Rocsite advanced search features that will help you dive a little deeper.
Search wherever you are — in real time
Driving through a neighborhood and imagine yourself living there? Use the mobile app to search for homes near your location. Just tap the arrow that points upward and right in the search bar.
Search a single address or specific area
You also can search by typing an address into the search bar or draw a custom region on the map. You can opt in to receive notifications when new listings hit the market in this region. Rocsite also notifies you when a home you saved drops in price, goes off the market or has an open house.
Use the RocSite Estimator
Many for-sale homes on Rocsite include a RocSite estimator value, an estimated market value for the home that takes into account data from county and tax assessor records and direct feeds from hundreds of multiple listing services and brokerages. The RocSite Estimator value also incorporates a home’s facts and features.
The RocSite value is not an appraisal. It is an estimate of market value to give you a starting point to gauge whether the home is priced fairly. It also will give you an estimate of how much a home’s value has changed in the last 30 days.
Some of the data on which the Zestimate value is based are reported in a home listing. This includes the home’s value compared to similar homes in the town or ZIP code, how taxes on the listing have changed, how many people are looking at the listing and how many people have saved it.
View a home’s sale history
Each for-sale home page provides information on price history and on property tax and assessment history. You can check this data for irregularities, like gratuitous price hikes or recent sales that fell through.
Get more neighborhood information from each listing
If you’re still looking for a neighborhood you’ll love, every home’s listing page provides some quick stats about the home’s surrounding area. Look under the Neighborhood heading to see Walk Score, Transit Score or Bike Score, or scroll through listings of nearby properties.
See your commute with Travel Time
If you commute somewhere on a regular basis, toggle on Travel times in a listing’s Overview section. Add the address, and Travel Time will estimate how long you’ll be in transit. You can see estimates for travel by car, transit, bicycle, or foot.
Gauge interest in a listing
Three stats help you with this: Time on Rocsite, Views, and Saves. Find them just above the listing description. A listing that tallies high views and lots of saves is likely to go fast. If it’s been listed on Rocsite for a long time, you can dig further into the listing details to try to determine why.
If a listing is drawing very high interest, Rocsite will estimate that it’s likely to sell faster than a percentage of nearby homes.
Ready to learn more? Find out what to look for when buying a house in our Home Buyers Guide.
The content on this site is not intended to provide legal, financial or real estate advice. It is for information purposes only, and any links provided are for the user’s convenience. Please seek the services of a legal, accounting or real estate professional prior to any real estate transaction. It is not Rocsite’s intention to solicit or interfere with any established agency relationship you may have with a real estate professional.
